The Great Southern Gun and Knife Show in Birmingham in January drew a record crowd with visitors waiting in line over an hour. (Joe Songer/jsonger@al.com)

The run on guns appears to have subsided in Alabama, at least when compared to other states.

After the presidential election and the shooting at Sandy Hook, Alabama led the nation, as firearm background checks surged 145 percent here between October and December. No other state saw such a large jump.

And just as Alabama saw the nation’s largest surge in December, it saw the nation’s second steepest dropoff. Background checks fell 31 percent in Alabama from December to January. Only Mississippi saw a steeper cooling off period, as background checks fell 37 percent there.

The FBI background checks are not a perfect match with sales, as states have different requirements for checks and some customers are denied purchase. But they are a good indication of interest in gun ownership. And according to the latest FBI data, interest in Alabama continued to fall in February.

Just 11 states continued to see a rise in interest after the initial December rush, as more customers flocked to the gun stores in January than in December. That’s unusual, as FBI data shows sales normally fall after the holidays.

But background checks in Illinois were up 33 percent from December to January. They were up 24 percent in Iowa and 15 percent in Minnesota during the same period. That short list also includes New Jersey and Connecticut. Background checks jumped 11 percent in New Jersey and 9 percent in Connecticut from December to January.

February brought more cooling off for most of the country.

Just 13 states recorded a rise in background checks from January to February, and those were small spikes. South Carolina led as background checks rose 15 percent from January to February. The number of FBI checks rose 12 percent in Arkansas and 10 percent in West Virginia over the same period.

In Alabama, interest in gun ownership continued to fall, as February saw 5 percent fewer checks than in January. That’s not typical. Normally, January is the slow month. In both 2011 and 2012, Alabama saw background checks pick up in February.

While the early "Cabbage Patch" effect, fueled by speculation about potential bans, may have subsided, the nation is still purchasing far more firearms now than just one year ago.

Every single state still reported more background checks last month than in February of 2012.

Year over year, Utah led with a 75 percent uptick in background checks from February of 2012 to February of 2013. Utah was followed by Delaware, Alaska, Minnesota and Colorado. Background checks rose 32 percent in Alabama from February of 2012 to February 2013. That puts the state near the middle of the pack on that score.

And when it comes to using October - the last full month before the presidential election - as a benchmark for reactionary interest, the South is far from alone. Not one state had fewer checks in January than October. Delaware saw a 100 percent increase in background checks between January and October. So did Iowa and Rhode Island. Alabama went from the nation’s largest spike in December, to 18th largest in January, up just 68 percent since October.

By February, nationwide interest showed signs of cooling. Across the country, 37 states saw background checks drop from January to February. Maine and North Dakota last month became the first states this year to record fewer total background checks than before the election.